iTunesU

With the news that Cambridge and Oxford have joined in, I thought it was time to bring attention to iTunesU for anyone who hasn’t heard of it before now. Basically, colleges and universities have started joining in with Apple to podcast audio and video of lectures, as well as information about their schools for potential students, etc. Some universities have been doing things like this through their own websites, but having them all under one umbrella at iTunes is pretty useful.

I haven’t had a chance to check for any Tudor history specific lectures yet, so if anyone finds some please post them in the comments. I downloaded the 50 minute “Monarchy” lecture by David Starkey (over 400MB!) from Cambridge but I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet.

More on the Tudor collar auction

I originally blogged about this item back in August, although the original auction date and estimated price have changed.

From The BBC:

The only known surviving chain of office from the time of Henry VIII is being put up for auction.

The king gave the gold Coleridge Collar to one of his closest advisers, Sir Edward Montagu, around 1546.

The chains showed allegiance to the monarch and the intricacy of the design and quality of the metal signified the status of the wearer.

It is expected to fetch

Search for a Tudor carnation

Here’s a neat article from The Telegraph that caught my eye last week:

The grim and impressive ruined battlements of Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire seem an unlikely setting for a garden of fragrance. But if English Heritage’s latest restoration project goes to plan, visitors moving from the dank environs of the Norman Keep into the light will be greeted by a waft of spicy clove scent, just as Elizabeth I was when she visited in July 1575.
…
John Watkins, head of gardens and landscapes at English Heritage, is patiently unpicking the genetic profile of a prized carnation that will occupy pedestalled clay pots at the top and bottom of the stairs. His study of engravings of contemporary gardens by Dutchman Hans Vredeman de Vries revealed that urns bearing plant rarities appear in strategic spots – and in some he could discern a trelliswork of willow holding carnations at nose height.

“The carnation was very much a fashionable plant at the time, introduced in 1540,” says Watkins. “It came over from the Turkish court and was probably Dianthus caryophyllus, the true carnation found in mountains around the Mediterranean. The true carnation has a very distinct, spicy nutmeg-clove fragrance. The pinks we know today are much sweeter.”

Full article

Excerpt and a review of Henry: Virtuous Prince David Starkey

First, the excerpt, at the Times Online:

David Starkey offers a fresh vision of Henry VIII

Before he was a brutal dictator, he was a virtuous king: in a new biography, David Starkey offers a fresh vision of Henry VIII

Henry and I go back a long way.

My first essays at Cambridge were on his grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. My doctoral dissertation was a study of his privy chamber and its staff. One of them, William Compton, has a part here.

Full excerpt

And next is John Guy’s review of the book, also from The Times online:

Here, ready for the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession, is the first volume of David Starkey’s two-volume life of the king, which has been eagerly awaited for at least 10 years.

Moving, round 2

Hopefully the final time for a while!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’ll be moving into my new place this weekend and will check in to approve comments and post news when time allows. I’m not in as much of a rush in this move, since I don’t have to clear out so someone else can move in, like with the first one. I’m probably going to float between the two places for the next week since I haven’t set up the cable and internet at the new place yet. Boy will I be happy when this is finished!

Changes to the rules of succession

Although this isn’t strictly Tudor-related, I’m sure that some of you would find this interesting. I remember there was some discussion of this 5-10 years ago… Hmmm, I wonder how Henry VIII would feel about these particular changes. 🙂

From The Guardian:

Downing Street has drawn up plans to end the 300-year-old exclusion of Catholics from the throne. The requirement that the succession automatically pass to a male would also be reformed, making it possible for a first born daughter of Prince William to become his heir.

Full article

Top o’ the tiara to Jean for the link

More possible interruptions…

No hurricanes this time, thank goodness. The house has sold and unfortunately my new place won’t be ready for another couple of weeks, so my stuff is going to be in a couple of friends’ garages and I will be staying with family. I’ll be tied up with getting the stuff out of the old house on Thursday and Friday of this week, but things should be back to something passing as normal after that. There will probably be another break in posting in the first part of October when I move into the new place. I’ll be sooooo glad when all of this is over and done with!

Possible blog posting interruptions and delays

Courtesy of Hurricane Ike —

The odds are good that I won’t have much in the way of satellite internet access starting sometime this evening and lasting until sometime Saturday evening given the rain we’re expecting from Hurricane Ike. It might just end up being windy with only some light rain in my area, but we’ll just have to see. So, there probably won’t be any new posts or comments approved until Saturday evening or sometime on Sunday.

David Starkey’s new program on Henry VIII coming next year

From Broadcastnow.co.uk:

David Starkey is to produce a four-part “psychological profile” of Henry VIII for Channel 4.

The as-yet-untitled series will go beyond the facts of Henry’s six wives and his split with the Catholic church to piece together a sense of his character and motivations.

The first 60-minute episode will show Henry as a highly intelligent child, while subsequent episodes will paint him as a brilliant “A-list celebrity” character with an over-developed ego and “solipsistic sense of self”.

Full article

Repost: Flowers for Elizabeth I

Since today is Elizabeth’s birthday, I thought it would be a good day to repost the donation request to send flowers for Elizabeth’s accession anniversary.

Original post below:

My friend Heather Thomas, who runs ElizabethI.org, is making arrangements to have flowers sent to Hatfield to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Elizabeth I’s accession to the throne. If you would like to contribute, please visit her website for more information: http://www.elizabethi.org/flowers.html

Philippa Gregory’s “The Other Queen”

This one slipped past me, but since I know a lot of you are readers of her books, I figured I should post links to her next book. This time the subject is Mary Queen of Scots during her captivity in England. It’s been out a while in the UK and will be out on the 16th in the US. Amazon links below (US on the left and UK hardcover in the center and paperback on the right).

Upcoming celebrations of Henry VIII’s 500th anniversary

That is, the 500th anniversary of him becoming king. Or the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry VII. Or both.

From the L.A. Times (and written by Susan James!):

Best known of the English kings, Henry VIII has usually been portrayed as a gargantuan party boy seducing court ladies, quarreling with the church, arresting friends and beheading wives. But he brought more to the throne than that.

Bright, cultured and handsome, Henry succeeded peacefully to the crown as he turned 18, securing the Tudor dynasty and making possible England’s golden age.

Next year marks the 500th anniversary of that accession, and a variety of special events will be held in and around London to explore his life and reign.

A major presentation at Hampton Court, Henry’s magnificent palace on the Thames, opens April 12 and runs daily through the year. It focuses on one day in the king’s life: July 12, 1543, the day he married his sixth queen, Catherine Parr.

…

Beginning Oct. 31, 2009, the palace will host a series of ghost tours through candlelighted rooms, including the Haunted Corridor where Henry’s fifth queen, Catherine Howard, ran screaming from guards sent to take her to the Tower.

Tudor Christmas (Dec. 27 to Jan. 1) will be celebrated with traditional music, dancing and live entertainment as well as an open-air ice rink.

Check out the full article for more upcoming events at Hampton Court and other places around England.